Meet this week’s Rams opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars

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Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette has been running over, around and through opposing defense all season. Listed at 6 feet, 228 pounds, he is built like a speedy linebacker and doesn’t shy from contact. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Leonard Fournette issued the challenge and turned himself into a one-man highlight last Sunday.

Fournette, Jacksonville’s excellent rookie running back, found himself with open space during a run, then motioned for Pittsburgh safety Mike Mitchell to come tackle him. Mitchell lowered his shoulder, Fournette braced for the hit and both players hit the ground after a hard but clean collision.

So, this is what the Rams will face Sunday in Jacksonville. Fournette, the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft, ranks second in the NFL with 466 yards, 61 more than the Rams’ Todd Gurley.

Fournette is coming off an extraordinary game against the Steelers, in which he rushed 28 times for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Fournette’s biggest play was a 90-yard touchdown run.

Listed at 6 feet, 228 pounds, Fournette is built like a speedy linebacker and doesn’t shy from contact, as the Steelers learned last week. Teammates were thrilled at Fournette’s moxie.

“It just shows what kind of team we are,” defensive lineman Malik Jackson told reporters in Jacksonville on Monday. “We’re a tough team. We like contact. We’re very physical. We want the issue to be brought to us so we can show people that we can stand up to it and overcome it.”

Fournette is the motor behind a Jaguars offense that has been surprisingly efficient. The Jaguars average 27.8 points per game, fifth-best in the NFL, even though their average of 324.8 yards per game is only 20th-best in the league. They, like the Rams, have improved their scoring dramatically in 2017.

Even quarterback Blake Bortles, who had his starting job threatened in training camp, has been solid. Bortles has completed 54.8 percent of his passes and has thrown seven touchdowns in five games.

WHO’S COACHING THE JAGUARS?

Doug Marrone, in his first full season with Jacksonville, coached three current Rams (Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Nickell Robey-Coleman) during his previous stint as head coach in Buffalo.

That didn’t go so well. Marrone, who surprisingly got the Buffalo job in 2013 after he coached Syracuse to a .500 record for four seasons, got fired after the Bills went 15-17 in two seasons.

Marrone then went to Jacksonville as offensive line coach and became interim head coach last December when the Jaguars fired Gus Bradley. Marrone coached the Jaguars to one win and one loss, but it was enough to land the permanent job one week after the end of the regular season.

BY THE NUMBERS

10: Number of years since Jacksonville’s last playoff appearance. It’s the fourth-longest drought in the NFL, and one below the Rams, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2004.

3: Number of games, out of five, in which the Jaguars have scored 29 or more points this season. In 2015, they scored at least 29 points in only four of their 16 games.

10: Number of interceptions by the Jaguars this season, three more than their total in 2016.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Myles Jack, the former two-way phenom at UCLA, has settled into a full-time role as a linebacker for the Jaguars and, in his first season as a regular starter, leads the team in tackles.

Jack appeared in all 16 games as a rookie in 2016, but he was eased into the Jacksonville defense during the season as he finished recovering from a serious knee injury he sustained at UCLA.

This season, Jack has been an important part of a Jacksonville defense that leads the NFL in sacks and interceptions. He’s been a disruptive force, and had nine tackles last week against Pittsburgh.

WHAT DID HE SAY?

“If we continue to play ball like we’ve been doing, there’s no doubt in my mind that we can be the best team in this division.”
— Offensive lineman A.J. Cann on the Jaguars (3-2), who hold a one-game lead over Houston, Indianapolis and Tennessee in the AFC South.

Rich Hammond was a high school senior when the Rams left town in 1995, and now he's their beat writer for the Southern California News Group. A native of L.A., Rich broke in at the Daily Breeze as a college freshman and also has covered USC, the Kings, the Lakers and the Dodgers. He still loves sports and telling stories. Don't take the sarcastic tweets too seriously.

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